Foreign Policy Foreign Policy Flashpoints APRIL 16, 2023 the region (Latin America) is rich with a new ore—lithium—and everyone from Germany to China is clambering to get in on the race.

 Foreign Policy 

Foreign Policy Flashpoints

APRIL 16, 2023 | VIEW IN BROWSER

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“A new gold rush is underway in Latin America—only this time around, the bounty is white,” FP’s Christina Lu and Rocio Fabbro reported in February. “With its sprawling salt flats, the region is rich with a new ore—lithium—and everyone from Germany to China is clambering to get in on the race.”

Lithium is essential to the batteries that power the energy transition—and as countries scramble to meet their renewable energy goals, Latin America has become a geopolitical hot spot due to its reserves. The reporting and essays below analyze the tactics states are using to secure the region’s lithium, the challenges to its extraction, and what it will take to prevent a new cold war over this essential resource.—Chloe Hadavas

China’s Latin American Gold Rush Is All About Clean Energy Beijing’s not after gold—but lithium.

By Christina Lu and Rocio Fabbro

Can South American Lithium Power Biden’s Battery Plans? Washington needs lithium—but its history of intervention in the region complicates things.

By Kathryn Ledebur and Erika Weinthal

Germany’s Scholz Calls for a New Approach to the Lithium Rush On a visit to South America, the chancellor pitched partnership rather than exploitation.

By Catherine Osborn

Can South America Take Advantage of the Lithium Boom? Ramping up production may be harder than it sounds in the “lithium triangle.”

By Thomas Graham

How to Avoid a New Cold War Over Critical Minerals To prevent a return to the zero-sum logic of Cold War resource politics, critical mineral supply chains must be widened at every step.

By Cullen Hendrix 

Photo: John Moore/Getty Images